Apopka woman pleads guilty, will serve 10 years for driving drunk in crash that killed 2

An Apopka woman agreed today to a plea deal that will put her in prison for 10 years for driving drunk when she caused a crash that killed two Orange County men on New Year's morning in 2010.

Toni Nieves, 20, also will face five years of probation when she is released from prison.

She was on probation for a previous DUI in Lake County when she crashed her father's Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 into the back of an Isuzu Amigo, propelling the small SUV off the two-lane Jones Avenue near Zellwood.

The crash killed Bradley Summersill, 18, who was a West Orange High School student, and his friend, Brian Walker, 22, of Orlando. The men had left a party and were headed to Astatula to pick up a friend's mother because she was ringing in the New Year alone.

Nieves hesitated briefly today when asked by Circuit Judge Alan S. Apte if she was pleading guilty to two counts of DUI/manslaughter because she was, in fact, guilty. When she finally said yes, the families of the men embraced one another. A few dabbed tears.

"She has never wanted to admit it," said Brian Summersill, Bradley's father.

According to court documents and traffic-homicide records, Nieves crawled from a ditch after the crash and admitted to a paramedic that she had been drinking beer and shots of rum before she took her father's sports car.

Her sentence in the previous DUI case forbade her from driving or drinking. But her blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.185 percent, more than double the level at which Florida law presumes a teenage motorist to be impaired.

Trish Walker, Brian Walker's mother, acknowledged that her son and his close friend and fishing buddy, Bradley Summersill, should not have been driving that night either, but emphasized that Nieves ignored court orders.

"That domino started everything," she said.

According to court documents, Nieves told authorities that she saw the Isuzu's taillights as it turned from a dirt road onto Jones Avenue, but she stepped on the gas pedal rather than the brakes. The men died at the scene.

"I think this is a just sentence," Assistant Atate Attorney Bradford Fisher told the family outside the courtroom. "She was a cause, not the sole cause."

Nieves, who was fitted with an electronic tracking device, may be permitted to visit family in New Jersey before her prison sentence begins. But the judge also warned the young woman that if she did not abide by all conditions of her temporary release, he could impose the maximum penalties for the offenses — a total of 30 years and 60 days in prison.

He also permanently revoked her driving privileges.

After Bradley Summersill's death, his parents organized a charity to honor their son and to help families in need. The Bradley Summersill Foundation provides headstones for poor families in Central Florida who lose a child but cannot afford a graveside marker.

The foundation is holding a fund-raising "poker run" Saturday. Participants will meet for breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Elks Lodge, 700 9th St., Winter Garden, and ride through Tavares, Leesburg and Eustis en route to Johnny Rotton's Bar Out Back in Sanford.